bell housing on first when replacing clutch?

[reklawpj]

Putting on a new clutch in my 67 F100 CS w/352. Doing this in my driveway. Got the old out but getting the tranny out was a bear. I'm thinking it might be easier to put bell housing on first, then slip the tranny in?

Is this doable? Or do I need to put the whole assembly back on together?

Since the truck is on jack stands and I don't have a lot of clearance, plus just working on back with a floor jack, it's tough. Like delivering a 150 pound baby except you have to put the baby back in, too.

Any advice would be appreciated.

On a side note, the clutch I took out was a long-arm type setup and the disk was actually fine. What happened is one of the long arm pivots failed so it would shudder something terrible on take off. So replacing that assembly with a diaphragm type pressure plate. Clearances & specs are all the same. Any reason not to do this?

Thanks a lot. This forum is the best.

[sargentrs]

from Georgia! You want to stab the trans with the bell housing already bolted on. One trick that always helped me stab a transmission is to go to Home Depot or your local hardware store and get some all thread rod and nuts to match. Cut 2 lengths about 6" long and thread them into the bottom holes of the bell housing. Then lift your transmission and slide up on those a couple of inches to act as guide rods. Thread a nut on the end to hold it in place. Now your transmission is supported and your hands are free. You can use the nuts to ease the trans closer a little at a time until you get it stabbed through the clutch disc and the splines engaged.

[elgemcdlf]

Jack up the front of the engine. It will tilt the rear downward allowing additional clearance. Get way out front so you don't rip up the motor mounts. You can stab it with or without the bellhousing on the trans. In the old backyard days clutch went on, bellhousing & then trans. Whatever works best for you. If you are on your back as you describe I would probably put the bellhousing on the engine & then the trans. Less weight with each unit making it easier to handle. The bellhousing will add weight to the rear of the engine making it drop even more. Not much but every little bit helps.

[reklawpj]

Great suggestions!

Mainly I wanted to confirm that putting the bell housing on first could be done and there wasn't something I was missing, so you've confirmed not only can it be done but probably is the easier way to get it done given the circumstances (on my back, in the driveway), AND the tip about threaded rods is great. Thanks sargentrs and elgemcdlf!

Here's the old girl with her tranny out today: https://twitter.com/CarrboroMan/status/ ... 04/photo/1

Thanks again!

[elgemcdlf]

The only thing that will give you a problem is the fork/throwout bearing. It is not going to stay in the center of the opening. You will have to lace the trans through it & then the clutch. This is assuming your trans bolts to the bellhousing from the outside.

[SRSslpr]

Just put in my new transmission a few weeks ago and i left the bellhousing bolted to the engine. Jacked the transmission up (as I was also doing this from the floor with floorjacks) and stabbed the engine with the transmission. I was able to put the throwout bearing and clutch fork on and then tighten everything up. I took it apart this way and everything went back together fine so I'm hoping that I did it correctly. Truck is still in assembly mode and I haven't had a chance to make sure everything shifts and works fine yet.

[Donnie]

If you are doing this on your back, as said before , either way will work.......A WORD OF CAUTION: make sure that you are all the way in when you stop to rest your arms....Do not allow the trans to hang when you are only part way in & need a rest..
Doing this will warp the clutch & you will need a new disc...Get a jack if you can, even just a floor jack...the long guide bolts will help you , but will not allow you to stop if you end up fighting the throw out brng., or for any other reason.......HTH.........Donnie

[reklawpj]

Got it all done. The threaded bolts were a big help. Bolted the bell housing on first, then guided the tranny onto it.

I couldn't use my jack underneath because I didn't have enough clearance so I came up with something a little different to lift the tranny in place. I made a platform out of a 5 foot section of a 2x12. Strapped the tranny on it in the middle, then lifted the board alternately on each side, a little at a time until I had enough height to guide the tranny onto the threaded bolts. With the length of board, it was easy lifting the tranny a few inches at a time, putting 2x4s or 4x4s under the plank each time.

Thanks for all the advice.